By Thomas K. Arnold
The San Diego Convention Center is situated along the bay.
The
San Diego Convention Center, built in 1989, sits on San Diego Bay and is within easy walking or pedicab distance from many of this Southern California
resort city's most famous attractions. It's sandwiched between what locals call the "Big Bay" and downtown; the convention center, with 615,701 square feet of exhibit space, attracts some of the country's top annual conventions and trade shows, including San Diego International Comic-Con, 125,000 attendees strong. There are plenty of things to do close to the San Diego Convention Center.
Gaslamp Quarter
Just across Harbor Drive from the San Diego Convention Center is the quaint and charming Gaslamp Quarter, originally San Diego's seedy tenderloin district but now a model of urban redevelopment, with antique-looking street signs and street lights, brick and cobblestone walkways and a cadre of renovated buildings dating back to the turn of the century. Fifth Avenue, the Gaslamp Quarter's main drag, is something of a restaurant row; be sure to stop in at Croce's for dinner and then drinks at the restaurant's jazz club. It's owned by Ingrid Croce, widow of the late folksinger Jim Croce ("Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"), and has been one of the Quarter's signature attractions for more than two decades. The Gaslamp Quarter also is great for shopping, with everything from one-of-a-kind boutiques to a sprawling Urban Outfitters and several cigar shops.
Play Ball!
The San Diego Convention Center also is conveniently located within a couple of blocks of Petco Park, which opened in 2004 as the new downtown home of the Major League San Diego Padres. The team hasn't been to the World Series in more than a decade, but catching a game is still a great way to spend an afternoon or evening. Stay at the Omni Hotel and you can even watch the games from the rooftop terrace--and maybe even your own balcony.
Petco Park
100 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92101
619-795-5000
sandiego.padres.mlb.com
Embarcadero
On the back side of the San Diego Convention Center is a pedestrian walkway that's great for early morning jogs or just some sightseeing. It starts at the new Hilton, just south of the Convention Center, and winds west and north along the bay almost to the airport, a distance of more than 3 miles. Some suggestions: Grab some friends for a hotel bar pub crawl with stops at the trilogy of high-rises adjacent to the Convention Center: the Marriott, the Hyatt and the Hilton. Walk down about a half mile to Seaport Village, a quaint collection of shops and restaurants on the water's edge. Walk down to the San Diego Harbor Excursion booth and take a cruise around the bay. Or just spend a pleasant afternoon in Embarcadero Marina Park, looking out over the bay from the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge to the south to North Island and the Point Loma peninsula to the north.
Museum Time
Two of San Diego's most illustrious museums are just a pedicab ride away (or, if you feel up to it, about a 2-mile walk along the pedestrian walkway). The USS Midway Museum is a former U.S. aircraft carrier that saw duty in Vietnam and Iraq and is now on permanent display on the Embarcadero due west of downtown. Docents lead tours; many of them are retired military who actually served on the ship. Don't miss the great collection of vintage aircraft on the deck. Then there's the San Diego Maritime Museum, a little further down the Embarcadero, a cluster of vintage vessels that includes the famous "tall ship" Star of India and the ferryboat U.S. Berkeley.
USS Midway Museum
910 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101-5811
619-544-9600
midway.org
San Diego Maritime Museum
1492 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101-3309
619-234-9153
sdmaritime.com
Little Italy
One of downtown San Diego's coolest neighborhoods is Little Italy, the old Italian community that was original home to immigrant fisherman in the early 1900s. The construction of Interstate 5 in the early 1960s plowed right through the community and almost destroyed it, but Italian-American residents rallied and rebuilt their neighborhood and today it's a hotbed of fine dining and nightlife. Be sure to try the Indigo Grill, which is fanciful California cuisine, and the original Filippi's Pizza Grotto, a community mainstay since 1950. According to a San Diego Magazine article on the neighborhood, the front of Filippi's "is an old-time ... Italian market, with crates of salt cod, barrels of Sicilian olives and gobs of salamis of all thicknesses and lengths. In the back is one of San Diego's most cherished Italian restaurants, still decorated with red-and-white checkerboard tablecloths and candles set in Chianti bottles wrapped in straw."
About the Author:
Thomas K. Arnold is the publisher and editorial director of "Home Media Magazine" and a regular entertainment contributor to various publications including "USA Today," "The Hollywood Reporter" and "San Diego Magazine." He has written travel stories for "San Diego Magazine," the "San Diego Union" and the Copley News Service. Arnold attended San Diego State University.
Photo Credits:
san diego harbor image by Earl Robbins from
Fotolia.com
